Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017The Arctic seabed, with its vast quantities of undiscovered resources, is the twenty-first century’s frontier. In Breaking the Ice: Canada, Sovereignty and the Arctic Extended Continental Shelf, Arctic policy expert Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon examines the political, legal, and scientific aspects of Canada’s efforts to delineate its Arctic extended continental shelf. The quality and quantity of the data collected and analyzed by the scientists and legal experts preparing Canada’s Arctic Submission for the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, and the extensive collaboration with Canada’s Arctic neighbours is a good news story in Canadian foreign policy. As Arctic sovereignty continues to be a key concern for Canada and as the international legal regime is being observed by all five Arctic coastal states, it is crucial to continue to advance our understanding of the complex issues around this expanding area of national interest.

This book examines the process by which Canada's policies forthe Fourth World Conference on Women were formulated: a process thatinvolved federal government officials from some twenty departments,provincial representatives, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)from across Canada. Riddell-Dixon relates the findings of her study to two broadconcerns in the literature on Canadian foreign policy-making. First,she assesses the relative importance of developments in theinternational arena on the one hand, and of domestic pressures on theother in determining foreign policy. Secondly, she considers the effectiveness of government efforts todemocratize foreign policy. Canada and the Beijing Conference onWomen concludes by offering some points for NGOs to consider whendeveloping lobbying strategies, as well as points for governmentofficials to take into account when considering measures to facilitateNGO participation in the policy-making processes for future worldconferences. Full of interviews with the key players involved, thisbook will interest scholars in Canadian foreign policy, women'sstudies, public policy, as well as diplomats and public servants.

This book examines the process by which Canada's policies forthe Fourth World Conference on Women were formulated: a process thatinvolved federal government officials from some twenty departments,provincial representatives, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)from across Canada. Riddell-Dixon relates the findings of her study to two broadconcerns in the literature on Canadian foreign policy-making. First,she assesses the relative importance of developments in theinternational arena on the one hand, and of domestic pressures on theother in determining foreign policy. Secondly, she considers the effectiveness of government efforts todemocratize foreign policy. Canada and the Beijing Conference onWomen concludes by offering some points for NGOs to consider whendeveloping lobbying strategies, as well as points for governmentofficials to take into account when considering measures to facilitateNGO participation in the policy-making processes for future worldconferences. Full of interviews with the key players involved, thisbook will interest scholars in Canadian foreign policy, women'sstudies, public policy, as well as diplomats and public servants.

This stronger alliance gave priority to negotiating an internationally acceptable treaty and safeguarding Canada's land-based nickel industry. A second coalition - officers from the Department of Finance, the Department of Industry, Trade, and Commerce, and the Ministry of State for Science and Technology - contended that the push for quantitive restrictions diverted attention from the more crucial areas of protection of technological and financial resources. Riddell-Dixon argues that the dominant coalition succeeded because of ministerial support, structural and functional advantages, and an effective choice of tactics. Consequently they were able to manage other domestic sources of foreign policy. Canada and the International Seabed addresses several debates central to Canadian foreign policy, including the relative importance of domestic determinants and international constraints, the nature of intra-governmental decision-making, the relationship between government decision-makers and interest groups, the role of provincial governments in foreign policy, and the role of international conferences in solving global problems.